CDPAP SFI – Litigation Update– TRO Extended

The Situation Report | April 7, 2025

As noted in the recent HCANYS Alert on the status of the Statewide Fiscal Intermediary (SFI), the federal judge that granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the Engesser v. DOH Commissioner James McDonald case held a follow-up hearing on Friday 4/4. The focus of the additional hearing was on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to delay (or stop) the SFI Transition.

Based on multiple news reports, it appears that the federal judge has, in fact, ordered a further temporary delay in the SFI transition process. In particular, news outlets are reporting the following:

           - the TRO issued earlier will be extended and remain in effect until April 14.

          - the federal judge in the case is planning to issue a preliminary injunction, but is giving the State and the plaintiffs until midnight Tuesday 4/8 to negotiate some sort of arrangement to ensure that workers are paid while the PPL SFI transition continues. If an agreement cannot be achieved, then yet another hearing will be held on Wednesday 4/9.

At this time, if a preliminary injunction is in fact granted by the judge, it is not known for how long it will be in place. And, in the meantime, it appears that the most current DOH guidance on the SFI transition is still the DOH memo released on 3/31/25 and the DOH late registration payment policy released on 3/24/25.

HCANYS continues to monitor these developments and will provide updated information as it becomes available.